Teaching English Essay

1466 Words3 Pages

Growing up learning and speaking English has been something that was difficult for me at first but then came easy, but that was not the case for my mother. She spent her whole life speaking Spanish, so when she decided to take English learning classes it was challenging. However, she had me to help her throughout her struggle. I helped her complete her homework and assignments. We would also go to the library to check out easy level reading books to have her read to me. I would correct her English when it was wrong and do all I could to boost her confidence. It took me a while to understand and figure out what the best way to teach her was, but it was a fun experience for the both of us. Teaching her English was difficult because things that …show more content…

She did not know much English so I knew she needed to start off on an easy reading level. Having someone with a different first language learn to read English was challenging. I had to explain why vowels had different sounds and the different pronunciation of words. I realized that English was much more difficult than I had thought. Learning the language a little at a time throughout my life had made English easy for me to learn, but seeing someone else try to learn it made me understand how learning a new language, especially English, was hard. I had respect for my mother, and anyone trying to learn English, because the way the language is made makes it difficult to understand if it does not come as a first language. When teaching my mother how to read, I had to be patient, understanding, and empathetic. I could not get mad at her for not knowing something right away because it was something new for her. This experience changed the way I read as well. For instance, I was more cautious of reading and always stopped to check if I was pronouncing a word correctly. When I have to read something aloud to the class or a friend, I am always worried that they might be judging me for reading too slow or stumbling across words because that what my mom told me she felt like. After the experience I had with helping my mother, I saw my reading style …show more content…

It helped me do well in school because I would have all that extra training with reading and writing. I learned that teaching someone helped me remember the material much better. I had her explain things to me just like I would to her. It helped me understand how hard it is to understand the English language because a lot of it does not make sense. I learned that I had should not talk normally to her because she does not understand, so I had to talk with basic English. I already knew English so when she did not understand a concept I would get frustrated because it was easy to me. Then I realized that English did not come easy to her like it did not come easy to me when I first started learning it. However, it has also done some changes in my own self. I had to talk simple English for her to understand me. Having talked like that for so long had made me adapt to it naturally. I do not tend to write or speak very academically because when I talk at home I do not do so. It has just become something that is easy and comes natural to me. When talking English I saw my mother in

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